Jeremiah Fears will apparently always be welcomed in the Sooner State.
Fears, who played point guard for the Oklahoma Sooners last season, made his return to the state when his New Orleans Pelicans played the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday. Although he was now in enemy territory, Fears still received a round of applause from Sooner Nation that was in Paycom Center as he was the final starter introduced for the Pelicans.
Jeremiah Fears returns to Oklahoma with Pelicans to play Thunder
Jeremiah Fears gets a decent ovation from the OKC crowd in the Pelicans’ starting lineup intro. He played at OU last year pic.twitter.com/SVMDR4tMa6
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) November 2, 2025
“It was really cool,” Fears said postgame. “Fans still showing love even though I’ve gone to a different place. But it felt pretty good to come back and have fans cheering, still showing support.”
Despite the 137-106 thumping for the Pelicans to remain winless, Fears still continued his impressive rookie campaign. He tallied 16 points, four assists and four rebounds while posting his best 3-point outing as a pro, making four of eight shots from beyond the arc. He’s averaging 13.7 points as a rookie and has reached double-digit scoring in five of six games.
Even before Fears was introduced at Paycom Center, the entire OU men’s and women’s basketball teams also were as they made the short trip to support a former Sooner. Fears also got some time with OU men’s basketball coach Porter Moser and his old teammates during pregame warmups.
The OU men’s and women’s basketball teams are in attendance to support Pelicans guard Jeremiah Fears.
— Jordan Davis (@thejordancdavis) November 2, 2025
I ran into #Sooners men’s head coach Porter Moser who said: “Our guys totally wanted to be here for Jeremiah’s first game back in Oklahoma. It’s just how we are with the… pic.twitter.com/R1uBJ8yqTa
Shoutout to @OU_MBBall for pulling up to support @jeremiahfears2 🤝 pic.twitter.com/bhYqwO4aWY
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) November 3, 2025
you know the squad had to pull up for @jeremiahfears2 first NBA game at Paycom 👏 pic.twitter.com/MpXCqHDGzp
— Oklahoma Basketball (@OU_MBBall) November 3, 2025
Looks like Jeremiah Fears is talking to some of his old OU teammates pic.twitter.com/MhYRpE2nuk
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) November 2, 2025
“It was basically showing everybody that it’s kind of still a family,” Fears said. “Although I’m gone, they still come to support. Coach Moser being there for my first game back in Oklahoma was super cool for me, and I know we’re just going to continue to build our relationship.”
Fears spent just one season at OU after reclassifying from the 2025 class to start his college career a year early, meaning he should just now be debuting as a Sooner based on his age. Instead, he’s six games into his NBA career after the Pelicans selected him with the No. 7 overall pick of the 2025 NBA Draft.
Fears led the Sooners with 17.1 points a game last season as he led them to the NCAA Tournament as a freshman.